Is infectious disease new to the discipline of Nursing?

Nursing is a well-suited profession in which to integrate the multidimensional aspects of infectious disease care. Indeed, nursing elements encompass many social, biological, physical, and behavioral sciences that serve as the basis for patient care. Nursing emphasizes that many factors contribute to any given clinical scenario. The notion that a dynamic relationship exists between the host, pathogen, and environment which contribute to disease is a familiar concept in nursing.

 

Ways of approaching infection have been an element of nursing practice as far back as the teaching of Florence Nightingale. Nursing interventions were aimed at preventing infection. The concept of infectious disease prevention is unique to nursing as it deviates from the traditional illness-treatment paradigm. To quote Nightingale, “True nursing ignores infection, except to prevent it.” These practices are essentially unchanged in current bedside nursing today. Even “mundane” aspects of typical nursing care, such as patient cleanliness, nutritional support, and mobility, are potent measures in nursing management to mitigate infection.